Fireworks insurance, your financial safety net

Fireworks insurance provider and UKFR advertiser WorldWide Special Risks talks about the importance of proper insurance cover for your firework displays in this article:

Firework displays whether they are large or small are often memorable occasions with a wow factor that is hard to replicate. The dangers of these explosive events are well publicised, especially around fireworks season, but the very nature of fireworks means that there is always an element risk. Careful planning and Risk Assessment can minimise this exposure, but the personal and financial impact when it does go wrong can be huge.

Recent events on the Isle of Wight are a demonstration of just such an occasion. On the 1st September just before 10pm, 50 fire fighters from 6 fire crews were called to the Ryde Castle Hotel on the Isle of Wight to attend a blaze, which according to early press reports was quite likely started by a fireworks display on the roof of the building. The fireworks were launched in celebration of a private wedding being staged at the historic venue, which has been considerably damaged by the event. That such a memorable celebration should end in these catastrophic circumstances is a warning to anyone staging a fireworks display or launching fireworks at their event. Investigations will surely resolve the true cause of the fire but it is a timely warning for the hundreds of households and venues that will be planning their own public and private displays this October and November.

“Most large public events with Category 4 fireworks will have a professional display company involved with their own specialist insurance, but there are still hundreds of smaller private or local events where the organiser sets off the fireworks themselves,” says Adam Waters of event insurers WorldWide Special Risks. “These Category 3 fireworks are smaller devices, but still perfectly able to cause personal injury or damage to buildings. The complication with fireworks is that a good time can go wrong in the blink of an eye. As may have been the case at Ryde Castle the consequences can be disastrous”.

Careful planning and preventative measures are the key to a successful event and there is a host of information available to the general public on sites such as UKFR and its Fireworks Forum. Purchasing an insurance policy is a financial safety net should the worst happen, but should not lead to complacency. Insurers look favourably on an organiser who demonstrates that they have taken seriously the risks and put plans in place to minimise them, so premium costs can be saved by taking the right approach. Worse still you may not be able to get cover if you have not.

Any event involving fireworks and the public should always be fully covered by insurance.

Worldwide Special Risks is one of a few UK providers who offer a firework insurance scheme for fireworks displays without a professional display company. The public liability cover protects the organiser’s financial liability from claims against them should their display cause bodily injury to a spectator or property damage to a building or even a motor vehicle in the proximity.

Fireworks Insurance polices are available from £100 for small displays with Category 3 fireworks or less, where an organiser has implemented the required safety measures. For more information please contact WorldWide Special Risks on 01727 843686 or visit www.worldwidespecialrisks.co.uk/event-insurance/fireworks

This article was submitted to UKFR for publication by WorldWide Special Risks.